MARCH 20, 2002

Engines limited from 2004

THE WORLD MOTOR SPORT COUNCIL met in Paris on Wednesday and voted through a proposal from the Formula 1 Commission to restrict drivers to just one engine per Grand Prix weekend from the start of 2004. If an engine has to be changed during the event the driver in question will drop 10 places on the grid. The FIA will now work on the phrasing of the rules to stop teams rebuilding engines at the circuit or flying them off to factories to be rebuilt. This will probably involve some kind of seal being applied to the engines to stop them being opened.

The regulation includes spare cars as the use of an additional engine so presumably anyone switching to a spare car will immediately lose 10 places on the grid even if the problem was unrelated to the engine. As a quid pro quo the FIA has agreed that it will not change the chassis regulations of Formula 1 for the next two seasons - which will save money for teams which cannot afford to build new cars every year.